Israeli Gershon Baskin and Palestinian Hanna Siniora — both authors, activists and educators, and leaders of the first joint Israeli-Palestinian think tank, Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information — share a first-hand assessment of the state of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

With eleven months of the Bush administration left, the questions remain
1-Will the promise of two states for two peoples be kept?
2-Is an Israeli-Palestinian permanent peace agreement feasible in one year?
3-What are the issues, the obstacles, and the opportunities ahead?

Baskin and Siniora say that it is possible. They will talk about what needs to be done and how. They will also present the work of IPCRI and on the contribution and achievements of civil society Track II efforts towards peace making.

Israel Palestine Center for Research and Information – IPCRI

Israel Palestine Center for Research and Information – IPCRI
Founded in January 1988, at the beginning of the first Intifada, IPCRI serves as a joint Israeli-Palestinian think-tank and “do-tank,” aiming to create and develop new concepts and ideas that enrich the political and public discourse in order to influence decision makers and to challenge the current political reality. IPCRI recognizes the rights of the Jewish people and the Palestinian people to fulfill their national interests within the framework of achieving national self-determination within their own states and by establishing peaceful relations between two democratic states living side-by-side.

Gershon Baskin

Gershon Baskin
Dr. Gershon Baskin has a long history of participation on the Israeli side of negotiations with the Palestinians, and has published books and hundreds of articles in the Hebrew, English and Arabic press on a range of topics related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Gershon Baskin, the Israeli Co-Director of Israel Palestine Center for Research and Information – IPCRI, co-founded IPCRI following years of experience facilitating Jewish-Arab relations within Israel, during which he worked for Interns for Peace, the Ministry of Education and the Institute for Education for Jewish-Arab Coexistence. Dr. Baskin has published books and articles on a range of topics related to the conflict. During the Premiership of the late Yitzhak Rabin, he served as an outside policy advisor of the peace process. Dr. Baskin was a member of the Jerusalem Experts Committee established by the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office during the Final Status Negotiations in 2000-2001.

Hanna Siniora

Hanna Siniora
Hanna Siniora, a member of the Palestinian National Council since 1990, has a long and distinguished history of public service. He has a long history of participation on the Palestinian side of negotiations with Israel. He was the first Palestinian to officially meet Secretary of State George Schultz as a representative of the occupied territories, facilitating President Reagan’s official recognition of the PLO. He served as a member of the Palestinian Jordanian delegation and advised the Palestinian delegation to Madrid in the early 90s. He is the founder and publisher of the Jerusalem Times, a weekly English-language Palestinian paper, and founder and co-chair of the Israeli-Palestinian radio station “All forPeace and the Israel Palestine Center for Research and Information – IPCRI.

Meet Gershon

Read Gershon

Gershon Baskin reveals how relations in the Middle East are based on justified fear, influenced by lack of human contact and reinforced by continued violence that solidify patterns of thinking and behavior that negatively influence public policies. read more

Watch Gershon

Gershon’s insights and perspectives combined with his robust knowledge of the major issues of the day, has made him a highly sought-after speaker.Watch Videos of Gershon

Hear Gershon

Gershon Baskin works across political lines to find common ground, a person who speaks his conscience and who gets things done for the good of all people in the Middle-East.
Hear what Gershon has to say!

Study Gershon

Gershon Baskin provides powerful insights into the challenges facing the international community, and its implications for citizens, governments and businesses alike.
Study Gershon's insights

Analyze Gershon

For decades journalists have analyzed Gershon's mission to promote peace, strengthen economies and protect the environment by fostering partnerships among governments, businesses, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and private citizens to turn good intentions into measurable results.
Read what they have to say about Gershon!